Self-examination device



March 27, 1951 M. FLEISCHER SELFEXAMINATION DEVICE Filed May 6, 1946 INVENTOR WAX F/p/ze/fr BY ATTORNEY :book.

Patented Mar. 27, 1951 2 UNITED STATES PATENT o F FICE 1 I 2,546,666 I SELF-EXAMINATION DEVICE Max Fleischer, New York, N. LY. v I Application-May 6, 1946,SerialNo.'-667,B52

- I This invention relates to an educational device of the electric questioner type, in which the :accuracy of the answer selected to a given 'ques- -tlon is automatically indicated by a signal.

' "The prime object of my invention .is to provide --tion sheet-orcard, or :aplurality of such sheets @or :cards arranged in book :form, and a selecting instrument, in the general form of a fountain pen. Each sheet has imprinted'thei-eon a series *lllClaims. (01-. as -9) but questions and opposite each questionganarea,

preferably in :the formlof a large printed dot indircating ran iaiiirmative answer and a like area in- :dicating a negative answer. The dot of the cor -:rect answer is 'electro-conductive, while that of the incorrect answer is electro-non-conductive. The selecting instrumentcarries all of the elec tr-icalelements except a short conductor to complete the circuit, which is provided by the dot cf the correct answer when the selecting instrument is placed thereon and =the-electric :la-mp car- ';ried "by the selecting instrument is thereupon energizedandlighted.

The areas or dots referred to, whether conduciitive or non-conductive, are sosimilar in appear- *ance as to prevent detection by the 11581301 the one whichis conductive, so that in selecting the .ianswer, the user must rely upon his knowledge,

-wlthno assistance from the device. 7 v

..,Other objects and advantages of the invention will ,be apparent from the description which .folflows, reference being made to the accompanying .drawingsinwhich: e 1 Eig. 1 is zit-longitudinal. sectional view of the selectingtinstrument. ,l Fig.2-is'1a cross. section of theselecting instrumenttagken on the line 22 of Fig.1 in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is .a perspective view of the question Fig. 4-13 a diagram of the electric circuit, p The selecting instrument shown in Figs. land i2= is merely one embodiment of that component of the device of my invention. Many variations are possible all within the. scope of my inven: 'tion'. Likewise "with respect to the circuit shown lnl ig. 4.

' The-selecting instrument shown in Figs. .1 and "2 consists :of the elongated-tubular holderhlQ, which inthis example is made or non-conducwindow for the electric bulb 1'3.

tive material such for example as Bakelita p-l't is provided at its top with a cap l'l .of like material provided with an aperture l2 as ,a .Cap H :iS screwed upon the holder it, each being screwthreaded for that purpose. Within the holder 1 0 is a dry cell battery M of the ordinary flash lamp type with .a low potential. Battery 14 is supported on coil spring l5 whichin turn is supported by the metal cup IS, the spring ll-5.5101;- 'ing' to force the battery 14 upwardly toward the cap end 01 the holder '19 .so that the upper pole 1'1 is held in contactwith terminal E8 of lamp 1 3 when the latter is in operative .p.osition. To the lower end ofholder H) is attached, ;by screw threading, the conical member l8*which is reduced at shoulder 9 "to permit itsentry intp the holder It. The conical member 18 is-of electro-non-conductive material, such as Bakelite, but it is provided with a metallic conductive shell 20 which is flanged over the shoulder "$9 of the conical member i8 and completely encompasses "the conical member from the shoulder 19 to the rim 2i. If desired the holder H] and con-- ical member 1.8 could be molded inone piece.

A narrow groove 22 is formed in theinside wall of the tubular holder NJ to accommodate an electro-conductor strip 23 which at its upper end contacts the screw-threaded electro-c'onduc tive socket 24 of the lamp l3 and at its lower end contacts the flange at I 9 of the shell 24;]. The depth of the groove 22 is sufiicient to give safe clearance between the conductorstrip 2'3 when mounted therein and the metallic =cup I6.

Betiu'ning to the conical member 15, it will be seen that it is provided with a bore 25 to admit the electric-conductive stylus 26, which b'oreis enlarged at 21 to admit the coil spring .-23 which 'is in contact at one end with metallic cup l6 and at the other ,end with thehead 29"of the stylu 25- he a 1M sw n wh t st??? :stylus zfioutwardly. v

. ertfcningportionof the-conical member 18, but

the gap in the circuit is closed whentheselecting instrument is placed upon a conductive dot .39, and it remains broken if placed upon-the electro-non-conductive dot 3!. Although dots 1 ,Btaud .31! are shown in .-Fig. .4 vasraisecll.suriaces,

it will be understood that they may be 'flush 3 with the surface of the sheet as will be the case when they are printed upon the sheet.

It is preferable to resiliently mount the stylus 26 as shown in Fig. 2 so that contact with a conductive dot 30 may be had by both stylus 26 and the rim 2| of shell 28 if the selecting instrument is applied to the dot in an inclined position and it reasonably may be expected that some inclination will be given by the user. Spring 28 is sufficiently light so that the weight of the selecting instrument alone, without added pressure by the user, will depress the stylus when it is placed upon a dot, and if the dot is a conductive one 30, the electric circuit is thereby completed.

The question sheets 40 are preferably bound in book form as shown in Fig. 3 although my invention is not to be considered as limited thereto.

As shown in Fig. 3 the questions are given under the heading Question and opposite the question are the two dots 30 and 3| under the columnar headings Yes and No. One of these dots, that which indicates the correct answer, is electro-conductive and the other is electro-non-conductive. The questions are printed and the dots are printed, but the ink employed in printing the dots 38 giving the correct answer is impregnated with an electro-conductive material, while the non-conductive dots 3| are printed in the usual manner with a non-conductive ink which simulates exactly in appearance the conductive dots 30; or both dots 3|) and 3| may be printed with electro-conductive ink and the incorrect dots 3| may be then coated with an electro-non-conductive material, such as varnish, as preferred, but it is important, whatever method is selected, that the appearance of the conductive and non-conductive dots be the same so as to avoid detection by the user of the one or the other.

Within the term question I include an affirmative statement, and as employed in the appended claims the term question is to be so understood.

The questions may take a variety of forms of which I shall mention only a few examples. One example would be:

Is New York city the capital of the State, of

I New York? Yes No New York city is the capital of the State of New York True False (1) To use strength (2) To carry ahead (3) To refrain from some action In this case, a dot would be imprinted alongside each given meaning (1), (2), and (3), thedot of the correct meaning (3) would be the conductive dot 30 and the dots of the others would be non-conductive.

The use of the device is quite obvious. The

user reads the question, places the selecting instrument upon the dot he selects, using it practically as he would place a fountain pen upon it so that the stylus 26 and rim 2| make contact with the surface of the dot. If he has selected the correct answer, the conductive dot 3B of that answer closes the circuit between stylus 26 and rim 2| and the lamp I3 lights.

While I have called the device an educational device, it is apparent that within thescope of the invention it is particularly adapted to games.

.I claim:

1. In a self-examination device, a question sheet having imprinted thereon at least one question and in association with each question at least two preformed imprinted markings of identical appearance, one of which is electro-conductive and the remainder thereof being electronon-conductive.

2. In a self-examination device, at least one question sheet, each question sheet having imprinted thereon at least one question and in association with each question a plurality of preformed imprinted markings of identical appearance, one of which is electro-conductive and the remainder thereof being electro-non-conductive.

3. In a self-examination device, a question sheet having imprinted thereon a plurality of questions, and in association with each question a plurality of preformed imprinted markings of identical appearance, only one of said markings associated with a question being electro-conductive and the remainderof said markings associated with such question being electro-non-conductive.

4. In a self-examination device, a plurality of question sheets, bound together, each question sheet having imprinted thereon a plurality. 10f questions, and in association with each question a plurality of preformed imprinted markings of identical appearance, only one of said markings associated with a question being electro-condu'c tive and the remainder of said markings associated with such question being electro-nonconductive.

5. A self-examination device comprising at least one question sheet and an electro-sensing device by which the examinee makes his choice 'of answer by applying said electro-sensing device to said question sheet, each question sheet having imprinted thereon at least one question and in association with each question at least two preformed imprinted markings of identical appearance, one of which is electro-conductive and the remainder thereof being electro-non-condrictive, the said electro-sensing device comprising a tubular casing having a signalling device mounted at one end of said casing, and .apair of contacts insulated from each other mounted at the other end of said casing, a batterycontained in said casing, said signalling device, battery and contacts being connected in a circuit which is broken only between said contacts, said conductive marking being sufiicient to close the said circuit between said contacts when the latter are placed thereon, thereby energizing said signalling device. 1

6. A self-examination device comprising at least one question sheet and an electro-sensing device by which the examinee'makes his choice of answer by applying said electro-sensing device to said question sheet, each question sheet having imprinted thereon a plurality of questions, and in association with each question, a plurality of preformed imprinted markings of identical appearance, only one of said markings associated with a question being electro-conductive and the remainder of said markings associated with such question being-electro-non-copductive, the said electro-sensing device comprising a tubular casing having a signalling device mounted at one end of said casing, and a pair of contacts insulated from each other mounted at the other end of said casing, a battery contained in said casing, said signalling device, battery and contacts being connected in a circuit which is broken only between said contacts, said conductive marking being suflicient to close the said circuit between said contacts when the latter are placed thereon, thereby energizing said signalling device.

7. A self-examination device comprising a plurality of question sheets and an electro-sensing device by which the examinee makes his choice of answer by applying said electro-sensing device to said question sheet each of said sheets having imprinted thereon at least one question and in association with each question at least two preformed imprinted markings of identical appearance, one of which is electro-conductive and the remainder of which are electro-non-conductive, said electro-sensing device comprising a casing containing a battery, a signalling device at one end and-a pair of contacts at the other end connected in a circuit broken at said contacts.

8. An electro-sensing device for use in a selfexamination device of the character described, comprising a tubular casing having a tapered end, an insulating block within said tapered end, concentric contacts at the extremity of said tappered end, one of which comprises a stylus resiliently and. slidably mounted in a bore in said insulating block and normally protruding beyond said other contact, a removable cap at the other end of said casing, a signalling device and battery in said casing, said signalling device, battery and contacts being connected in a circuit broken only at said contacts.

9. A response sheet comprising a sheet of electro-non-conductive material, a plurality of questions imprinted on said sheet, a plurality of answering positions with respect to each question designated by preformed, separated markings of identical appearance imprinted upon said sheet, one of said answering position markings with respect to a question having been preformed of electro-conductive material, and the remainder of said answering position markings with respect to such question being electro-non-conductive.

10. A response sheet adapted to be sensed by an electrical sensing device, comprising a sheet of electro-non-conductive material, a plurality of questions imprinted on said sheet, a plurality of preformed, separated markings imprinted on said sheet in correspondence with each respective question designating the several answering positions with respect to each question, one only of said answering position markings with respect to a question having been preformed of an electro-conductive material visually indistinguishable from the remainder of such markings, such electro-conductive marking being sufficieiit when sensed by an electrical sensing device, to actuate an electro-sensing device.

MAX FLEISCHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,253,282 Ruckhardt Jan. 15, 1918 1,928,565 Kindig Sept. 26, 1933 r, 1,932,443 Britsch Oct. 31, 1933 1,997,157 Tausckek Apr. 9, 1935 2,084,848 Lasker June 22, 1937 2,107,008 Lasker Feb. 1, 1938 2,171,556 Higginbottom Sept. 5, 1939 2,272,411 Johnson Feb. 10, 1942 

